The Technics SL-1200 is a series of direct-drive turntables introduced in October 1972 by Matsushita Electric (now Panasonic Corporation) under the brand name Technics. The series is widely recognized as influencing the emergence of hip hop, turntablism, and electronic music culture in the 1980s. As the use of slipmats for cueing and beat-mixing became popular in live DJ performances, the quartz-controlled motor system enabled records to be mixed with consistency. Its control over wow and flutter and minimized resonance made the equipment particularly suitable for use in nightclubs and other public-address applications. Since its release in 1979, the SL-1200MK2 and its successors have been the most common turntables for DJing and scratching. With more than 3 million units sold, many 1970s units are still in heavy use. At the London Science Museum, an SL-1210MK2 is on display as one of the pieces of technology that was responsible for "making the Modern World".
History
The SL-1200 was developed in 1971 by a team led by Shuichi Obata at Matsushita and was released to the market in 1972. It was adopted by New York City hip hop DJs, including Grandmaster Flash in the 1970s. As they experimented with the SL-1200 decks, DJs developed scratching techniques when they found that the motor would continue to spin at the correct RPM even if the DJ wiggled the record back and forth on the platter. On November 1, 2010, Panasonic announced the discontinuation of Technics analog turntables through a statement on the DMC World DJ Championships home page. Technics was relaunched in 2014, focusing on higher-end products. Reports at the time suggested that Panasonic had plans for Technics to reintroduce turntables, preceding the announcement of the SL-1200 series revival at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show under two "Grand Class" models: the limited-edition 1200GAE (1,200 units worldwide) and the consumer-grade 1200G. They later introduced the lighter, more affordable 1200GR, followed by the DJ-focused SL-1200MK7 in 2019.
SL1200/SL1210 re-launch Due to the increasing popularity of vinyl among DJs, a petition was created calling for the re-launch of the Technics SL1200 and SL1210 series turntables. On 5 January 2016, Technics agreed to relaunch both the SL-1200G and the SL-1200GAE. At the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Panasonic announced it would be resuming production with a new line of turntables, beginning with the limited edition SL-1200GAE. At the 2019 CES, Panasonic confirmed the future production of a new turntable, the SL-1200MK7, in matte black. As well as the addition of new features and fixes to known issues with previous models. The new model featured an all-new, lighter construction of aluminum and fiberglass. In 2021, Panasonic ceased manufacturing Technics turntables in Japan and moved all turntable production to Malaysia.
Design
The SL-1200 series was developed by Technics' parent company, Matsushita, to address several challenges associated with turntable design. The design incorporates a heavy base made of a composite structure featuring a cast alloy top plate and a solid rubber base, intended to minimize unwanted vibrations. Adjustable rubber-damped feet provide insulation against acoustic feedback, particularly in environments where the turntable is used near loudspeakers. Additionally, the underside of the record platter is coated with a 1.2 mm layer of rubber to help reduce ringing. A 2 mm rubber mat is included with the platter, which is designed to reduce resonance around 250 Hz. The drive system designed by Matsushita is direct-drive, rather than the more commonly found belt-drive type. The direct-drive design, which was developed to reduce wow and flutter, produces a substantially quieter turntable that has minimal motor and bearing noise, although the bearing rumble is "characteristic" of well-used turntables. On the underside of the platter, a large magnet is placed over the spindle, surrounding the coils and forming the motor drive, which eliminates loss through power transfer. The SL-1200 utilizes a Frequency Generator Servo Control Quartz Lock system that is claimed to produce "the most accurate and consistent speed possible". The system is immune to static and dynamic stylus drag, which otherwise causes unwanted speed variances that change the pitch and tempo of the music.
Legacy models
Original model (1972)
SL-1200 The SL-1200 was introduced in 1972 as an evolution of the popular SL-1100. It was dubbed "The Middle Class Player System." It was released in two versions: the SL-1200 and the SL-120. The SL-1200 included a tonearm section, while the SL-120 did not.
MK2 models (1979-2010) The SL-1200 Mark 2 was introduced in 1979 as an update to the SL-1200. It was dubbed "The Middle Class Quartz Direct Drive": the main technical improvement over the MK1 series was that the electronic braking system, when reducing speed, exhibited response times identical to those observed during acceleration. This characteristic made the entire MK2 series particularly well suited for the “pitch riding” technique used by DJs to beatmatch two records. It soon found its way into discos as well as radio stations for airplay because of its vibration-damping ability and resistance to feedback, and eventually became popular with pioneering hip-hop DJs. Following their established formula, Technics offered different model numbers in Europe: the 1200 (silver) and the 1210 (matte black), which were equipped with switchable dual voltage (110V or 220V) power supplies. Initially, there were only silver models (all named 1200 MK2) in the official distribution in Japan and the US, single voltage of 100V/120V accordingly. However, later the 1200 was available in both silver and matte black finishes (in Japan, the introduction of the MK3 in 1989 marked the first official introduction of a black version).
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
